The Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog had an interesting post about people covered by High Deductible Health Plans who open Health Savings Accounts. Many people are covered with an HDHP, but not as many open up the Health Savings Account like they should. One way to fix this could be employer contributions.
Here’s one way to get people to bite: Offer up seed money. UnitedHealthcare came out with a survey of its customers today that showed 86% of people opened an HSA if their employer offered up a contribution. That’s compared to 27% when the employers kept their purse-strings tight, according to United. About two thirds of employers contribute to the accounts. (Keep in mind the survey wouldn’t have captured any folks who opened HSAs at banks other than United’s own bank.)
Each business is different, but I’d recommend any employer using HDHP’s to at least make the opening contribution to their employees HSA. For one, it’s a writeoff. Who doesn’t love writeoffs? Secondly, they’re likely saving a ton of money with an HDHP, why not pass on some of the savings to your employees? Sometimes a little money can go a long way.
Tags: WSJ
Tags: WSJ
